Electric clock.



F.HARDlSTY.

ELECTR1C CLOCK. APPLICATION FILED 050.17. 1914.

Patented Dec. 14, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. f BY MUTNESSES 6 6 am;

F. HARDISTY.

ELECTRIC CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I], l9l4. 1,164,51 1. Patented Dec. 14, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2. 2

saaaaazz WITNESSES lNl/E/VTOR A TTOR/VEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK HARDISTY, OF FRANKFORT, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO CYRENIUS IB. WILLIAMS, 0F FRANKFORT, INDIANA.

ELECTRIC CLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 14, 1915.

Application filed December 17, 1914. Serial No. 877,742.

To ail whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK HARDISTY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Frankfort, in the county of Clinton and State of Indiana, have made certain new and useful Improvements-in Electric Clocks, of which the following is a specification.

li ly invention relates to improvements in electrically driven clocks and it consists in the combinations, constructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a clock which is run by a small amount of current and which therefore consumes very little energy.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described having a novel form of actuating mechanism in which the pendulum is given an impulse periddically, this impulse consuming very little current in that the movement of the pendulum breaks an electric-circuit immediately after the impulse, thereby economizing current.

A. further object of my invention is to provide a novel form of striking mechanism which is also actuated electrically.

Other OuJBCtS and advantages will appear in the following specification and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this application in which Figure 1 is a face view of the actuating mechanism, Fig. 2 is a side view, Fig. 3 is a face View of the hour wheel, Fig. 4 is a face view of the minute wheel, and Fig. 5 is a face view of the second wheel.

In carrying out my invention I provide a support 1 to which is secured a laterally extending arm 2 having a V-shaped groove2 arranged to support a knife edge 3 carried by a ring 4 which forms part of a yoke 4, the ends of the yoke being bent at right angles, as shown at 5 and constituting armatures for the magnets 6 which are supported by the arm 2, as shown in Fig. 2..

' The lower portion of the yoke has a downwardly extending rod 7 to which a pendulum bob' 8 is'adjustably attached. The pendulum rod 7 bears a pin or arm 9 upon which is pivotally mounted a wedge-shaped member 10. i

Carried by the support 1 is a laterally extend1ng arm.11 to which is secured the end of a spring contact 12. This contact bears a block 13 having a notch 14 in its top. The

block 13 has a threaded extension 15 upon which a milled nut 16 may be screwed so as to hold the block securely to the spring.

The support 1 also bears a bracket 17 carrying the contact screw 18' and an adjusting screw 19 which is insulated from the contact screw 18 by an insulating plate 20.

A battery'B is connected with the contact screw 18 on one side and on the other side by means of a conductor 21 to one of the magnets 6, these magnets being connected together by means of a conductor 22, the other magnet 6 being connected with the spring contact 12 by means of a conductor minute hand 30, while an hour wheel 31 is mounted on a sleeve 32 and bears at its end an hour hand 33. The wheel 26 bears preferably sixty teeth 26 and it will be noted in Fig. lthat this wheel has an extra deep slot 26 between two of the teeth. The second wheel has a series of raised contacts arranged in spiral shape, as shown in Fig. 5. The minute wheel 28 is also preferably provided with sixty teeth and has five extra deep slots 28 at equidistant points. It is provided on both sides with a series of twelve brush contacts 28 corresponding to the contacts 26* on the secondwheel. The hour wheel 31 has also preferably sixty teeth and is provided on the side facing the minute wheel with contacts 31, these contacts varying in length, the lengths of the contacts berigidly connected with the central portion of.

the yoke 4 and pivotally connected at 37 to the arm'is a pawl 38 having a laterally extending end 39 which is arranged to engage the teeth of the various wheels. As will be seen from Fig. 2 the pawl 39 has a portion 39 which engages the teeth of the wheel 26, but when the slot 26 comes under the portion 39 the pawl 38 can swing farther toward the center of the wheels under the action of the spring 40 so that the portion 39 (see Fig. 2) will now engage the teeth of the minute wheel 28. When one of the slots 28 is engaged by the portion 39 of the pawl this will permit the portion 39 of the pawl to engage a tooth of the hour wheel.

Tn Fig. 2. l have shown a battery B which is connected by a conductor 41 witha brush 4-2 which is in engagement with the "second Wheel 26. The wheel 31 has a similar brush l3 which remains in contact with the wheel during the rotation thereof and is in electrical connection with the magnet ll of a bell 45 mounted on the support 1, by means of a conductor 4:6. The magnet 4A is in turn connected by a conductor .lcT with the battery B. The wheels 26, 2S and 31 areinsulated from each other and from the frame bv insulating rings such as those shown at 26 28 and 31" respectively, so that any curt rent passing from the battery must flow by way of the conductors 26", spectively. V

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device the operation thereof may be readily understood.

The pendulum bob 8 is adjusted to such a length that the period of vibration is one second. Consider now Fig. 1 with the pendulum in the left hand dotted line position X and about to swing toward the right. The member 10 is free to swing on the pivot 9 so that it normally maintains a vertical position. This member will catch in the V- shaped notch 14 during the forward stroke, so that when the pendulum reaches its extreme passage at the right as shown at Y,

and starts to return the member 10 will force the spring 12 downwardly, thus making con tact at 18. Current will now flow from the battery 13 through 21, 6, 22, 6, 23, 12, 18 and battery. The armatures 5 are out of the central position and there will thus be given a momentary impulse to these armatures to return to the central position. This will give an impulse to the pendulum thus keeping up the swing of the latter. At each double swing of the pendulum the pawl 38 will move the second wheel forward one tooth, but when the wheel has made one revolution the end 39 will enter the slot 26 thereby bringing the portion 39* into engagement with a tooth on the minute wheel, thus turning the minute wheel. At every twelfth tooth on the minute wheel is a slot 28, as stated before, which permits the portion 39 to move the hour wheel one tooth.

The hour wheel is thus moved every twelve 28 and 31* re minutes, but since there are sixty teeth on the hour wheel it will take twelve times sixty or seven hundred and twenty minutes, 2'. e., twelve hours for the hour wheel to make one revolution.

Consider now the means for causing the audible indication of the hours.

The wheels 26, 2S and 31 are placed on their respective spindles in such a manner that the contact on the hour wheel for striking twelve, the row of contacts 28 on the minute wheel. and the contact 26* nearest the center of the wheel 26 are in registration at twelve oclock. It now the pendulum is set going the second wheel will begin to revolve and as the spiral row of contacts passes the brushes 2S the bell t5 will receive current for ringing the same as each contact 26 passes its corresponding brush on the wheel 28. each individual brush of the wheel '28 being insulated from the other brushes. as shown in Fig. at, the corresponding brushes on opposite sides of the wheel 28 being connected with each other. Ap proximately one hour will lapse after striking twelve before the outer contact 26 on the wheel 26, the outer brush 28 on the wheel 28 and the smallest contact 31 on the Wheel 31will again register. This will cause the clock to sound the hour one. Similarly the hours two, three, four, etc., are sounded successively. Since the striking of the clock is caused by contacts which are momentarily made, very little current is required to maintain the striking feature. I

It will thus be seen that l have provided a device for operating the clock which requires a verv small amount of electrical energy. Tn fact the amount is so small that it can hardly be registered on a meter. The device is simple in construction yet positive in operation. The accuracy of the clock, as in any clock, depends upon the correct adjustment of the pendulum bob, but this is readily accomplished and when once adjusted the clock is not liable to get out of order because there are no springs to break. Furthermore there are no small bearings which must be well oiled and which tend to clog up, thereby retarding the movement and either making the timing mechanism inaccurate or resulting in the-stopping of the clock altogether. The fact that the clock contains but little mechanism renders the device cheap to manufacture without in the least detracting from its reliability as a time piece.

ll claim i 1. Tu an electric clock, a second wheel, a minute wheel, an hour wheel, said wheels being arranged parallel to one another for rotation on. a common axis, means for driving said wheels, a bell, and a magnetic circurt for sa1d bell, sald circuit including conlllltl tacts on each of said wheels arranged to be 136 brought into registration by the rotation of the wheels and to close the circuit to cause the sounding of the bell.

2. In an electric clock, a second wheel, a minute wheel, an hour wheel, said wheels being disposed in parallel relation for rotationabout a common axis, means for rotating said wheels, said second. wheel being provided with a spiral row of contacts conforming to the hours of the day, said minute wheel being provided with a series of brushes conforming in number to the contacts on the second wheel, said I; ushes being arranged to extend beyond the face of the minute wheel on each side thereof and to engage the contacts on the second wheel successively, and said hour wheel being provided with a series of raised contacts of different lengths corresponding to the hours of the day and adapted to be engaged by the brushes on one side of the minute wheel.

3. In an electric clock, a second wheel, a minute wheel, an hour wheel, said wheels being disposed in parallel relation for rotation about a common axis, means for rotating said wheels, said second Wheel being provided with a spiral row of contacts conforming to the hours of the day, said minute wheel being provided with a series of brushes conforming in number to the contacts on the second wheel, said brushes being arranged to extend beyond the face of the minute wheel on each side thereof and to engage the contacts on the second wheel successively, said hour wheel being provided with a series of raised contacts of different lengths corresponding to the hours of the day and adapted to be engaged by the brushes on one side of the minute wheel, an electro-magnetic sounding device, a battery, a brush connected with the battery on one side and being in electrical connection with said second wheel, a second brush having connection with said electro-magnetic device and being in constant electrical connection with said hour wheel, and electrical comj'ztions between said battery and said electro-magneticdevice.

FRANK HARDISTY.

Witnesses;

CHARLES E. HARLAND, RoNLEY L. AXTELL. 

